/ WHAT?! Count Elec's NetNavi failed to complete its mission?! /
: He did succeed in extracting most of the encoded data, but he was intercepted before he was able to complete the procedure and send it back to us.:
= So where is the information now? =
: I suppose it's wound up in the NetNavi's PET.
: /Hurry up and get the data away and back here! /
= Our NetNavis were deleted, sir. We can't do anything. =
/ I must come up with something... /
Net nitro necromancing chapter 16; forgiven
Everything about what had happened to him when he had been created, up until the present, all his memories, battle strategies, what he'd said and done, even the small bits of information called his 'emotions'.
He sighed, putting the file folder aside, letting it drop onto the ground, a few papers shuffling about within the binding. It was odd and creepy reading something about yourself.
"Netto must never find out about this." he silently swore to himself, as he picked it up again. Closing his eyes, he opened them an instant later, back within the walls of his Operator's room. He held the folder within his gloved hands. The brown-haired teenager was asleep, snoring lightly; he only did that when he was dead tired.
Going over to his desk area, he lifted his small orange toolbox off the ground hidden underneath his desk chair. Opening it, he slid the folder within it. He knew that Netto would only use it if there was an emergency, why, he'd said so himself.
Megaman: What's in that box down there?
Netto: Just tools and stuff I need to use for emergencies... I never use it for anything else.
It was true. Netto hadn't used it since he'd fixed his PET... all the rest of the time, it just sat there. The only reason it wasn't horribly dusty was because he had to move the box every time he needed to use his chair.
Placing the box back in its usual spot, he turned around. Letting his emerald eyes rest upon the form under the bedcovers, he had a sad expression on his face. Netto turned once on his side, then back again on his back, the bedcovers falling off him slightly. Megaman stepped forward, and placed the covers back over his friend. With a sad smile, he slipped out the door.
-- --
A man with glasses kept his eyes on the personal computer screen in front of him. He was watching with great interest and curiousity as a familiar NetNavi made its way past barrier after barrier, demolishing security programs which so happened to stand in its path with surprising speed.
Doctor Hikari found it hard to keep up with the fast-moving body of data as it blew past many firewalls that were protecting supervisor portals, which led to various thresholds of information. "How interesting that this NetNavi of my son's has so much hidden potential." He muttered softly to himself as he took notes on his clipboard.
-- --
The blue and yellow NetNavi moved like a blur, passing SciLab's many obstacles and transferring himself from portal to portal, looking for what he had come for: the coordinates to the WWW's – no, the World Three's – base.
He sought answers. He needed them. And he was going to get them – even if it meant sabotaging the place he'd once protected with his Operator.
Without blinking, he swiped his arm downwards, sending another firewall offline in shambles. He was almost there. He could see the nearly invisible document holding the coordinates right in the distance, safeguarded by three more security programs. The SciLabs had just gotten hold of the horribly disrepaired file just over the Christmas break. Doctor Hikari hadn't even looked at it yet.
That was too bad.
A serious expression was on Megaman's face as he entered the room, easily totalling the programs with a shot of his buster. He was going to take that document with him, no matter who had seen it or not, no matter what its condition was. He was taking it and leaving back where he'd come from – and heading straight to the location written on the document. He had to get this done and over with now.
He'd become too restless – he'd waited patiently for this to happen, his chance. Someone at the World Three's base knew the whole truth: who his creator was, how he'd been created. Unfortunately, the file that he'd found in his PET did not contain that information. Elecman had been deleted before all the information he'd extracted from him had been decoded (Elecman had extracted the hidden code within Megaman's own programming, changing it into a file). The rest of the information had been deleted along with the electric Navi.
Megaman took the document held on a small pillar in his hands, tucking it safely under his arm. His mission completed, he made for the exit like a rocket, knowing that in a split second SciLabs could be on top of him, preventing his escape. Silently he wondered why there weren't a million NetNavis like the NetBattler Association on top of him by now, when he'd started his task. But he didn't care about that now.
Nearing the portal that would take him away from the SciLab Square, he paused just centimeters in front of it. He turned back to look at the mess he had created, programs lying on the ground useless, firewalls blown away, holes in the ground where a few programs had shot fireballs and shocks at him. He went through the link that was his escape route. Immediately after he vanished, the security programs and firewalls, and other such damages he'd caused were erased, new restored programs and security put in its place as if he'd never been there at all.
After all the destruction he'd caused earlier because of the WWW's mind control, he wouldn't let himself cause damage if he didn't absolutely have to. He'd had to do this to get into SciLabs... but he set things right when he left. Things looked anew like the sabotage had never happened.
He hoped that he could reverse the damage the WWW had caused... it was his fault, it was his duty to finish what he started. He was going to stop them by himself this time, sure that he had enough a chance to destroy his creators alone without Netto helping him this time. He'd had enough of getting him involved in something this big, even though he knew that Netto was more than eager to help him in any way that he could.
Bypassing Netto's webpage, Megaman knew now that he had no other choice but to go alone. How could he possibly tell him that he might not come back from this?
-- --
-- start dream sequence --
-"The truth... is hard to explain. I know that part of my past, when I was under the World Three. What I don't know is, who gave birth to me..." Megaman shut his eyes for a moment, trying to make the black void in his mind go away. Netto saw this, and seemed to share his NetNavi's need to know. "I don't know who my creator is. I remember nothing about it. It's as if World Three cleared my memory banks of that time. That's probably what happened." he continued."It must feel awful to not remember who your parents are. It's like having been abandoned at birth and being raised by someone else..." Netto added. Megaman nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, exactly."
"So now what we have to do is find the one leader behind World Three. Dr. Wily." Megaman said, eyes gleaming with determination. He was determined to find his identity from the old man. Netto was unsure that Megaman could handle such weight, but knew that they had to go ahead with their plans. So far, they were the only ones who were making a big enough dent in the World Three's forces to make a difference. Plus, they were really big targets, and had most, if not all, of their attention.
"I'm going with you, Mega. I don't care what you say or how dangerous it's going to be." Netto said. Megaman looked at his operator from out of his PET. "...I wasn't going to say anything." He said. Netto blinked, then laughed a bit. "Of course you had something to say!" He said. Megaman looked up at him with an honest smile. "I'm glad you're going to be with me. I'm going to really need you, Netto-kun." Were the NetNavi's words. "But remember, you might not like what you're going to hear." -
--end dream sequence--
----
A refreshed Netto Hikari tossed his bedcovers off himself, having just woken from his two-hour long nap. He didn't really need it... so he ended up waking early. Looking about his room, he sensed that something was wrong. By now, he'd expected his NetNavi's voice to greet him, but the room was silent; the usual "Have a nice nap?" not hitting his ears. He figured that Megaman was still sleeping... But when he got to his desk area, Mega was nowhere to be found within the PET.He was gone, but a file was there in his place, having been left open, an untitled document within the file's folder. Thinking it was a note explaining where Megaman had gone and why, Netto opened it. The first couple words told him that this wasn't a note like that... it was something far more serious. First, it involved the WWW. When he read more into it... it was about Megaman's creation... his involvement with the WWW.
Skimming the first few pages, it was a documentation of an experiment made by some scientist on Megaman. Megaman's purpose was to destroy the 'net and take over the world. He was made to be the perfect weapon. He came equipped with every ability that the WWW could think of: hacking, sabotage, weapon and combat techniques of the highest caliber.
The documentation noted that Megaman had been under the influence of brain control the entire time, manipulated while the experiments and tests that they had done on him were in effect. He read that without these 'restraints', it was likely that the power that Mega had would have certainly devastated the lab and base where he was being held.
Megaman had been thrown away and brought to that store on the corner where defective PETs were sold to the public by accident, the black chip put in to make sure the NetNavi within was useless to the person who received it when it arrived, and if the NetNavi survived, the black chip would switch to be a controller that would manipulate the Navi.
Netto read on. There was no mention on who Megaman's creator was or how he was created... it was just a log that had been kept while Megaman was in existence.
During the time he was reading this, the phone rang several times. Netto paid no heed to it. A million emotions were flooding his senses as he read what he knew Megaman hadn't wanted him to see. Confusion, hatred, sympathy, truth, doubt, curiousity... just a few named emotions of what he was feeling at that moment. The documentation held his attention, even when the door to his bedroom opened, mom walking in, the portable phone in hand. Netto didn't even look up at her as he took the phone in his free hand, putting it against his ear. His dad was on the other end. But even as he heard his dad's voice, the things he said didn't really register in his mind.
The only thing he caught was this: "- sabotaged the SciLabs." Immediately Netto regained his senses as he let the PET he was holding fall onto his pillow.
"What?" "Megaman was just here, he sabotaged the SciLabs, and took the coordinates to the WWW's base."
Netto furrowed his eyebrows. Normally he'd think, 'Mega did WHAT?!'. Instead, he thought something different. He understood his NetNavi completely because of what he'd just read.
"Please, forgive him. I understand why he's done that."
He hung up the phone after those words, not letting his dad question him or say anything more. Megaman was going to find out who his creator was by going straight to the WWW themselves.
Going to the window, he looked out. Megaman was walking from the Metro, headed towards the school gates. Netto grabbed his PET, dashing out his bedroom door.
: to be continued :
- code: / Dr. Wily , : Madoi , = Hinoken
AN: this is one of the more confusing chapters, I think, 'cuz I more threw everything in at the last minute.